Ice and Snow on Lake Stemmevatnet, Spitsbergen, in Winter 2019/20

Abstract

Received January 19, 2023 ;revised March 22, 2023; accepted June 27, 2023The results of observations and modeling of the formation of the snow-ice cover of Lake Stemme (West Svalbard Island) in winter 2019/20 are presented. The main information was obtained by two radar (GPR) survey, performed on the floating ice of the Lake on March 12 and April 22 of 2020. Authors believe that probably these observations were the first ones on the Lake. The use of the radar made it possible to obtain data on the dynamics of the thickness of the layers of snow and ice cover, the so-called “snow ice” which is formed when the boundary between snow and ice was submerged under water. During the time between records, the thickness of the last “snow ice” increased two to three times, i.e., from units to the first tens of cm, and it spread to the entire deep-water part of the Lake area. In addition, analysis of high-precision positioning of the radar records revealed a significant deflection in the ice surface in the central part of the Lake under the influence of snow load and the decreasing level of the reservoir. The calculations of the thermodynamics of the floating ice cover have shown that its thickening occurs as a result of the processes of congelation and isostatic ice formation, replacing each other at its lower and upper boundaries, respectively. At the same time, the formation of “snow ice” violates the characteristic feature of decreasing of ice thickness with growth of the snow thickness, which significantly influences on the thermal and mass balance of the Lake snow-ice cover. Results of calculations of the ice cover deformation did show that it takes place not only due to the elastic, but also to the viscous properties of ice, and it is concentrated in a narrow coastal zone. The maximum radial stress is reached at a distance of several meters from the shore, where a circular crack parallel to the shoreline is formed. Such a crack is formed at all ice thicknesses at about the same distance from the shore.